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Dord.
In this fascinating episode of Vsauce titled "Dord," host Michael Stevens explores the quirky origins and nature of language, igniting a discourse about words, their meanings, and their peculiarities. The video dives into the story behind the word "dord," which was mistakenly included in Webster's dictionary in 1934 due to a clerical error. The intended entry was for "D or d," an abbreviation for density, but it was misread as an actual word. Interestingly, "dord" remained in the dictionary for thirteen years before the oversight was corrected.
As the video unfolds, Stevens cleverly navigates through various linguistic concepts, questioning the origins of ordinal numbers like "first" and "second." He explains the phenomenon of collateral adjectives—those adjectives that arise from different roots than the nouns they relate to—highlighting the richness of English language construction.
The exploration continues with Stevens discussing the concept of rhymes. He playfully debunks the myth that no word rhymes with "orange" by introducing obscure examples like "Blorenge," a hill in Wales, to illustrate that such rhymes do exist, albeit rarely. He also touches on the intriguing notion of "identical rhymes," where the sounds and stresses of two words align perfectly.
Stevens introduces the idea of "phantonyms," words that sound like they mean one thing but actually mean something else entirely, and discusses the concept of "jamais vu," where familiar words suddenly feel foreign. Throughout the video, he balances humor and education, twisting the language discussion into engaging narratives.
Another captivating segment discusses copyright traps, focusing on how dictionaries, like the New Oxford American Dictionary's invented word "esquivalience," seek to protect their content from plagiarism. Stevens masterfully relates these concepts back to words people often assume to have no rhymes, like "nothing" and "chimney," reminding us of the complexities of language and meaning.
Overall, "Dord" encapsulates Michael Stevens' trademark style of merging knowledge with entertainment, all while encouraging viewers to reconsider their relationship with language.
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Feel free to share your thoughts on this video or any peculiarities of language that you've come across! What words do you think have interesting backgrounds? Have you ever encountered a term that you thought had no meaning? Let's discuss!
In this fascinating episode of Vsauce titled "Dord," host Michael Stevens explores the quirky origins and nature of language, igniting a discourse about words, their meanings, and their peculiarities. The video dives into the story behind the word "dord," which was mistakenly included in Webster's dictionary in 1934 due to a clerical error. The intended entry was for "D or d," an abbreviation for density, but it was misread as an actual word. Interestingly, "dord" remained in the dictionary for thirteen years before the oversight was corrected.
As the video unfolds, Stevens cleverly navigates through various linguistic concepts, questioning the origins of ordinal numbers like "first" and "second." He explains the phenomenon of collateral adjectives—those adjectives that arise from different roots than the nouns they relate to—highlighting the richness of English language construction.
The exploration continues with Stevens discussing the concept of rhymes. He playfully debunks the myth that no word rhymes with "orange" by introducing obscure examples like "Blorenge," a hill in Wales, to illustrate that such rhymes do exist, albeit rarely. He also touches on the intriguing notion of "identical rhymes," where the sounds and stresses of two words align perfectly.
Stevens introduces the idea of "phantonyms," words that sound like they mean one thing but actually mean something else entirely, and discusses the concept of "jamais vu," where familiar words suddenly feel foreign. Throughout the video, he balances humor and education, twisting the language discussion into engaging narratives.
Another captivating segment discusses copyright traps, focusing on how dictionaries, like the New Oxford American Dictionary's invented word "esquivalience," seek to protect their content from plagiarism. Stevens masterfully relates these concepts back to words people often assume to have no rhymes, like "nothing" and "chimney," reminding us of the complexities of language and meaning.
Overall, "Dord" encapsulates Michael Stevens' trademark style of merging knowledge with entertainment, all while encouraging viewers to reconsider their relationship with language.
---
Feel free to share your thoughts on this video or any peculiarities of language that you've come across! What words do you think have interesting backgrounds? Have you ever encountered a term that you thought had no meaning? Let's discuss!
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